You know what they say about opinions.  I was a chef - customers formed opinions about my cooking abilities with every meal that I served.  My kitchen experience, knowledge about how to use the tools and ingredients at hand, my creativity and mood went into every dish that I cooked.  Sometimes my food came out amazing and sometimes it didn’t.  This is the same for brewers.  A brewer’s experience, knowledge of how to use the tools and ingredients at hand, their creativity/mood/energy when brewing a batch produces an end result that is judged sip by sip.  Justin noted to me that “even if a brewer is not happy with how a recipe turns out there is someone that likes it - the awesome part of the brewing industry is that there is a flavor profile for all kinds”.  Opinions/judgements about beers/breweries/brewers are often expressed online through apps like Untappd, on Facebook, on Instagram.  Brewers can have their beers judged/receive feedback about their beers by entering them into competitions like the annual Great American Beer Festival in Colorado.  

    I’ve known Justin Damadio for more than 6 years.  I met Justin when he was the head brewer at Gordon Biersch in Tyson’s Corner, VA.  My husband worked with Dave Warwick at Rock Bottom Brewery in Ballston, VA; Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch are owned by the same parent company, Craftworks Holdings.  Matt mentioned to Justin that I dog sit (dogonajog.com).  Justin had an old dog named Buck and was going on vacation.  I met Buck and agreed to take care of him.  

    Buck was a big, old, gentle, quiet dog when I met him.  As old dogs do he had a lot of arthritis.  When Justin brought Buck to my house he had to gently lift Buck in and out of his Jeep; Buck complied quietly.  Justin brought three posturepedic dog beds to my house and stacked them so that Buck could easily get in and out of his dog nest.  Elder dog care is all about schedules - medicine, food, walks at the same time every day with lots of sleep in between.  It takes patience and commitment and sometimes three dog beds to help a best friend as they age.  Every visit with Buck he was a little slower, a little quieter, and as Justin told me, at the end of Buck's life, he had some really good days and some really bad days. 

    In 2018 Justin won a Gold Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for his Bohemian Pilsner.  I remember finding out that Justin had won a gold medal - I was really stoked for him.  Matt used to enter beers to be judged at GABF - we would check the results in real time to see if Matt won anything; we were always happy when any of our friends won.  What I didn’t know about his gold medal beer until I interviewed Justin was that he brewed the Bohemian Pilsner the day before Buck died.  

    It’s really hard balancing dog hospice care and a job.  Justin told me that Buck was having a really good day on the day that he brewed the Bohemian Pilsner - Justin didn’t want to go to work that day because he wanted to spend time with Buck - but he had to get the beer done. The day after the brew Buck was having a bad day - but Justin needed to go to the brewery to check on the pilsner’s progress, drop trub, etc.  Justin brought Buck to work with him on Buck’s last day (please see pictures) .  RIP Buck, my gentle friend.

    So the interview that I thought I was going to have with Justin (I thought we were going to talk about Maryland since we both grew up there) ended up being an homage to Buck.  I did ask some questions - answers included below - but this is the simple question that made this interview what it is: I asked Justin "What is your favorite beer style to brew?" and he told me: “Bohemian Pilsner”.  

A few interview notes: 

1. Quote of the day from Justin: “How do you put a standard on art?  Craft beer is art.”
2. Fact that I found surprising: Justin has worked at Seacrets in Ocean City, MD.
3. Other places Justin has brewed: Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, MD.
4. Jen: "When did you meet Kim, your fiancé?"  Justin: "On Dec 3rd, 2014 at the Winter Bock tapping at GB Tysons". 
5. Jen: "What do you think the next beer trend will be?  Justin: "More towards table beer - lower ABV with microbes - less people are drinking because they work too much”.

    I had a great day visiting Justin in his tidy, bright brewhouse as he brewed Marzen on a rainy,  DC Friday.  You should visit him at Gordon Biersch Navy Yard  and drink his delicious beer.  If you are going to publish an opinion about his beer on social media (or an opinion about any body’s beer) I think you should keep in mind that the person who brewed your beer just might have put their heart and soul into that batch.

Cheers to Justin and Kim 2020 - can’t wait to celebrate with you !